Aeroplane.



H. B. WMEAWW.

AEROPLANE.

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AeRoPLANE.

APPLICATION FILED APR.20. 19|?- glMLUFYQ, Patented Sept. 11, 191'?. 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

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earns rannte onirica ROBERT IB. MCCANN, 0F CHICAGO, LLINOS, ASSIGNOR 0F ONE-FOURTH T0 WILLAM. DICKEBSON, 0F CHICAGO, ELLINOIS.

AEROPLANE.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Sept., lill, i917@ Application led' April 20, 1917. Serial No. 163,431.

To all whom t may concern.

Be it known that I, ROBERT B. MCCANN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Chicago, in the county of Cookand State of llllinois, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Aeroplanes; and l do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, 'and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use'the same. v

The invention relates to improvements in aeroplanes.

rlhe object of the present invention iskto improve the construction of aeroplanes and to provide a simple, practical and eicient aeroplane of the biplane type equipped with :tront and rear sets of biplanes and provided with means for' enabling a plurality of passengers to bev conveniently carried and capable of enabling the necessary power to b readily developed.

A further object of the invention is to provide a double biplane provided at each set of biplanes with opposite pairs o1"l propellers and having a central engine emplacement with respect to the biplane.

With these and other objects in View, the invention consists in the construction and novel combination of parts hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed; out in the claims hereto appended; itbeing understood that various changes in the form, proportion,V

size and minor details of construction, withinthe scope of the claims, may be resorted to without departing from the spirit or sacricing any of the advantages of the invention.

ln the drawings:

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the double biplane airship constructed in accordance with this invention.

Fig. 2 is a front elevation of the same.

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional View.

Fig. 4 is a detailv view illustrating the arrangement of the hydroplanes or floats when it is desired to substitute the same for wheels to adapt the machine for hydroplaning.

Like numerals of reference designate corresponding parts in the several Iigures of the drawings,

In the accompanying drawings, in which is illustrated the preferred embodiment of the invention, .the aeroplane comprises in its construction a frame designed to be constructed of any suitable material and composed of tapered front and rear sections 1 and 2 located respectively in advance and in rear of front and rear upper and lower supporting planes 3 and 4, and an intermediate longitudinally disposed substantially oblong connecting portion located between the front and rear upper and lower supporting planes 3 and 4, as clearly illustrated in Fig. l of the drawings. The frame is equipped with a front wheel 6 and side wheels 7 and 8 arranged in pairs and located beneath the front and rear upper and lower supporting planes and mounted on suitable axles 9 and 10 and the said axles are connected with the frame by means of standards 11 and suitable braces l2 and 13 arranged at an inclination and located in advance and in rear of the axles of the front and rear side wheels. rllhe side wheels are located centrally beneath the end portions of the lower supporting plane and the aeroplane is provided with a central longitudinal bar or member 15 extending rearwardly from the apex of the tapered front portion of the frame to the front axle 9 and connected with the frame by suitable braces.

The axles may be braced in any other del sired manner and instead of employing wheels the frame may be equipped with hydroplanes or floats 17, as illustrated in Fig. 4 of the drawings to adapt the aeroplane for hydroplaning. rl`he front tapered section 1 extends downwardly and forwardly at an inclination and it is provided with a space or compartment 18 for the accommodation of the aviator guiding the aeroplane. rlhe rear tapered section 2 has a substantially uniform taper rearwardly and it carries a rudder plane 19, which may be of any desired construction and any suitable equipment may be employed for steering the aeroplane.

The intermediate oblong connecting portion 5, which is located between the two sets of supporting planes, is provided at the lower portion with opposite rows of seats 20 for the accommodation of `passengers and the machine may be made of any desired size to provide the necessary carrying capacity. The front portion of the intermediate section 5 is adapted to aord a convenient position for a fuel tank 21, and the said intermediate connecting passenger carrying section is braced at the bottom by longitudinal truss rods 22 consisting of 1nclined terminal portions and intermediate horizontal port-ions and provided with central adjusting means 23 preferably consisting of turn buckles, as shown. The longitudinal truss rods are spaced from the intermediate section at the bottom thereof by transverse I-beams 24, which form struts for the truss rods and provide with the same a truss structure of great strength and durability and at the same time possessing the requisite lightness. The front, rear and intermediate sections of the frame are preferably braced as shown, but the bracing means may, of course, be varied to secure the desired strength.

The aeroplane is equipped at the front and rear of the terminal laterally projecting portions of the upper and lower supporting frames with propellers 25 and 26 arranged in pairs and mounted on the front and rear ends of longitudinally disposed shafts 27 and 28. The shafts 27 and 28 are connected by sprocket gearing 29 and 30 with engines or motors 31' and 32, which are of ordinary type of internal combustion engine. The engines are centrally arranged with respect t0 the supporting planes which are adapted t0 aord ample power for propelling the machine.

The front and rear upper and lower supporting planes are arched as shown,'and the side wheels have their axles located centrally of the terminal portions of the| planes, that is midway between the front and rear edges thereof, and the inclined braces 12 and 13 extend to the frame from the axle, having their upper portions connected with the frame adjacent to the front and rear edges of the lower supporting planes as shown. By this arrangement the rigid structure of the frame work is produced.

The aeroplane is adapted'to be provided with the usual equipment of operating means and stabilizing and equalizing devices may, of course, be employed.

The aeroplane may also be provided between the pairs of upper and lower supporting planes -with centrally arranged transversely disposed planes 33 located midway between the upper and -lower supporting i planes and mounted on vertical standards 34 and braced by inclined upper and lower braces 35. The central planes 33 are of a width less than the upper and lower supporting planes and are curved in substantial parallelism with the said planes.

The central or intermediate connecting portion of the main frame forms a compartment` and is provided Iwith a platform 36 and the seats are located at opposite sides of the same, as clearly shown in Fig. 3 of the drawings. The compartment or space for the accommodation of the passengers may be made of any desired size, and the front and rear supporting planes will be of corresponding areas to sustain the aeroplane. The walls of the compartment 36 are preferably composed of vertical .standards 37 and top and horizontal connecting members, crossed inclined braces 38 being preferably arranged in the spaces between the` vertical standards. The braces 38 extend from the top to the bottom of the standards, and the front and rear sections and the front and rear supporting planes are preferably braced in a similar manner by crossed inclined bracing rods mounted between vertical supports.

What is claimed is: V

1. An aeroplane of the class described including a frame having frontA and rear tapered sections and an intermediate connecting section, the front taperedsection of the front section below the terminal portions of the lower supporting plane, a lower central longitudinal frame member extending from the front end of the tapered front section to a point below and centrally of the front supporting planes and connected with the supporting means thereof, and braces connecting the frame member with .the frame.

3. An aeroplane of the class described including a frame provided with spaced upper and lower front and rear transversely disposed laterally projecting supporting planes, longitudinaly disposed shafts located at opposite sides of the frame and mounted between the upper and lower front and rear supporting planes and extending across. the same, front and rear propellers mounted on the front and rear ends of the Said shafts and arranged inpairs at opposite sides of the machine at the front and rear portions thereof, centrally arranged-engines mounted commodation of passengers, upper andl lower transversely disposed supporting planes arranged in pairs at the front/'and means, and transsferse struts interposed between the truss rods and the frame.

5. An aeroplane of the class described in-4 eluding front, rear and intermediate secjtions, ront and rear upper and lower t ansversely disposed supporting planes arranged in pairs, vertical standards centrally ar" ranged between the upper and lower supporting planes, centrally arranged planes mounted on the standards and located Avbetween the upper and lower supporting planes, and braces extending from the stand-l ards to the centrally ar 1anged planes. 6. An aeroplane of the class described 1ncludmg front, rear and intermediate sections, front and rear upper and lower transversely disposed supporting planes arranged in pairs, vertical standards centrally arranged between the upper and lower supporting planes, centrally arranged planes mounted on the standards and located between tlie upper and. lowerl supporting planes, and braces extending from 'the standards to the leentrally ar anged planes, said supporting planes and centrally arranged planes being curved in parallelism and presenting. upper convex faces and lowercon cave faces.

In testimon)v whereof I aix my signature in presence of two witnesses. ROBERT B. MCCNN.

Witnesses:

Wu. DrennnsoN, J. P. OBnrex. 

